Canfield turns love of outdoors life into a living

From bonefishing to bear hunting, `storyteller' captures essence of nature

CHARLIE BIER, Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Published
6:30 am CST, Thursday, February 5, 2004

Frank Canfield said he had already lived a good life or two when he finally decided what was important in the time spent between birth and death.

After a string of businesses successes, and a few failures, and the loss of two wives -- one to divorce court and the second to the grave -- the now 76-year-old decided he wanted to enjoy the remainder of his days, however many that would be.

So, in 1978, the then 51-year-old Canfield says he made a promise to himself.

"I had no desire to try and build another empire," Canfield said. "I wasn't going to stay in the corporate jungle. I decided if I had to go live in a tent and trap rabbits to eat, I was going to enjoy what was left of my life. And that's what I've done."

Canfield, who lives on Rayford Road in Spring, didn't have to go to survivalist extremes, but a love for the outdoors kindled when he was a boy hunting pheasant and bobwhite quail in the milo, corn and wheat fields of his native Kansas did wind up being his path to contentment.

By what he calls an accident, Canfield fell into outdoors writing.

By his count, he has published 453 articles, columns and dispatches in scores of newspapers and magazines on everything from bonefishing in Belize to bear hunting in the Pacific northwest.

There also have been quite a few of the Texas variety -- goose hunting, bream fishing, flounder gigging -- that have made it into print.

Colenia, Canfield's third wife of 22 years, said her husband was lucky in that he found a way to blend his penchant for storytelling with his love of the outdoors.

"Frank is a storyteller," said Colenia Canfield. "He loves to tell stories about what he's done and the pleasures he's had in life. He likes to put it down on paper for other people to enjoy."

Pulling a shoebox full of snaphots from a cardboard box about deer hunting in Colorado with a black powder rifle for illustrations, Canfield said he got his start as an outdoors scribe by chance.

At a Houston Sportsman's Association meeting 1978, Canfield said he somehow got roped into penning an article for the organization's newsletter.

The newsletter was then distributed at a Houston Sportsman's Show, where a newspaper publisher read it, liked it and asked Canfield if he could reprint it in his weekly paper in the Rio Grande Valley.

An outdoors writer was born.

"That's what started me off," Canfield said. "It was a fluke."

In addition to a good cross section of Texas weeklies, Canfield also writes for several papers in Kansas, including the Hill City Times in the northwestern portion of the state.

"He's quite a goer, a character," said Jim Logback, Hill City times editor. "I wish I had that much energy. He's definitely enthusiastic about hunting and fishing."

Recently, Canfield guided a group of Woodlands hunters on a pheasant trip to Kansas like he has every year for the last 25.

As for where he'll sell the piece that springs from the trip, Canfield doesn't yet know.

"I'll sell it somewhere," he said.

If you have a suggestion for a "Faces in the Crowd" profile, contact Alan Fossler at alan.fossler@chron.com or send a fax to 281-362-4466.